Tartarus Infernum

by Sunderbraze

Chapter 4 - Rage, Iron, Fire, Wind

**********

A rusted jail door squeaked as Celestia’s golden magic caused it to swing open. The princess, having never been seen in such a dreary place, shocked the prisoners with her appearance. Their eyes followed her majestic figure in awe as she walked past their holding cells.

The Canterlot jail was small, dark, and sparsely occupied; crime in the capital city of Equestria was very rare under Celestia’s rule. Most of the ponies in jail were sentenced to brief punishments for petty crimes such as thievery, fighting, or dishonest business practices. Few of them were there longer than a few days, though one had been there for nearly a month.

“His cell is the last one down the hallway, your highness,” said the jailor, from behind Celestia. She nodded at him politely, and he returned to the entrance to the cells.

“Ragehoof,” Princess Celestia said loudly, approaching the cell at the end of the hallway. “Stand forth, and address me.”

“Well, well, well,” a low, condescending voice muttered from the corner of the cell. Out of the darkness, a pair of dark green eyes lazily fixed themselves upon Celestia. “Here she is… our just tyrant.”

“I have not come to discuss politics with you, Ragehoof” Celestia responded sharply. “I have come offering a full royal pardon should you choose to defend Equestria alongside myself and my allies.”

“Royal, eh?” Ragehoof asked, his face emerging from the darkness as he neared the center of his cell. His coat was a very dark red, almost black in the dim light of the jail cell, and his mane an equally dark shade of purple with black tips. His legs were very muscular despite their skinniness, and he was very tall—mere inches from Celestia’s height.

“You know that as soon as you set me free, I’m taking you down, right?”

Celestia stared coldly into his eyes. “You see me as a threat to Equestria, do you not?”

Ragehoof paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow. This was unexpected; the princess suggesting something that he believed. “You are a threat, yeah,” he muttered. “Finally figure that out?”

“Ya crazy flankhead!” hollered a prisoner from an adjacent cell. “Celestia is the kindest leader anypony could ask for!”

“Yeah! Princess, that guy’s a nutcase! Pardon me instead!” chimed another prisoner. The entire jail had suddenly come to life with praise of Celestia, ridiculing her critic in the cell.

“Shut up, all of you!” Ragehoof bellowed, galloping forwards and bashing one of his hooves into the jail cell door. It left a large dent in the metal, and the sound of his impact echoed for several seconds—the prisoners fell silent. “None of you have any idea what she’s doing to us!”

“There is a greater threat to Equestria than I could ever be,” Celestia informed him, breaking the silence that followed his outburst. “And I need your help in defeating it.”

“Of course you do,” Ragehoof replied, turning around to gaze out of his jail cell window. The light shining through it illuminated his cutie mark—a tilted black flag. “I’m here because your kindness and fairness have brought nothing but weakness to the ponies of Equestria!”

“You are here because you injured nearly twenty of my Royal Guard and personally confronted me with threats of violent upheaval,” Celestia corrected him bluntly. “You are a criminal. I am offering you a chance to redeem yourself.”

“You’re the one who needs redeeming,” Ragehoof retorted, looking at her from the corner of his eye. “I was making a point. If one pony can rip through your pathetic guards with such ease, then something has to be wrong.”

“Your motivation does not excuse your actions,” Celestia argued. “The Guard are keepers of the peace, nothing more. They are not qualified to stop an invasion.”

“THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN TRYING TO SAY!” Ragehoof roared angrily, turning again to face the princess. “Your leadership has made Equestria into a bunch of softies! Nopony in this kingdom would stand a chance if we were invaded!”

“In that, you are correct,” Celestia sighed, breaking eye contact with him and gazing into the darkness over his shoulder. “Even now, as we speak, forces of evil are escaping the Gates of Tartarus. They will attack us soon.”

Ragehoof fell onto his back, laughing hysterically. “I knew it!” he chortled through his sarcastic laughter. “I just knew it…”

Celestia continued to stare at him, showing no emotion.

“Fight with me,” she commanded. “Fight with me, and defend your country.”

Ragehoof ceased his laughter and stood up, staring back at the princess. “Your subjects know nothing of war,” he replied, once again as cold and emotionless as she was. “…Thousands of years of complacency under a ruler so powerful she raises the sun every day… Who would ever think there’s a need to defend themselves when they have that?”

“I’m not disagreeing with you,” Celestia admitted. “However, everypony disagrees with your methods, and that is why you are here. We can fix this, and save Equestria. But we must work together.”

Ragehoof closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “...How bad is it?”

“Pretty bad,” Celestia’s voice replied, suddenly from behind him. His eyes shot open and he whipped around—she had silently teleported there. “And things will not get better if you overthrow me now.”

Celestia teleported again, and Ragehoof stood in a firm battle stance, watching carefully for her to rematerialize.

“You have a chance to make things better for yourself and Equestria,” Celestia’s voice echoed eerily through the jail cells, masking her position. The other inmates whimpered fearfully.

“I don’t care about myself,” Ragehoof shouted furiously. “Only this country, and its future!”

“Then fight with me,” Celestia said from right above him. Ragehoof hopped backwards and glared at the levitating alicorn. “You have the strength of a dozen stallions, and the heart of a hundred,” she continued, lowering herself to the cell floor. “You would be a valuable addition to my team…”

Celestia disappeared again, reappearing in front of his cell where she had stood before.

“If I fight with you, and we defend Equestria today,” Ragehoof muttered, entertaining her suggestion. “What about tomorrow? Do we get another thousand years of complacency, only to not have the strength to protect ourselves from the next disaster?”

“If you fight with me now,” Celestia replied slowly. “I will see to it that Equestria has a standing defense team in case this happens again. It is the least I can do.”

**********

Ragehoof abandoned his defensive stance and gazed into her eyes for a moment, trying to think of something to say. “…Well… Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” he asked, masking his surprise with condescension.

Celestia turned and walked away—the cell door’s lock clicked open behind her. Ragehoof pushed the door open and walked out with her, the wide eyes of the other inmates following him in shock.

“Come with me,” ordered the princess, leading him out of the dark jail cells.

“Just one thing,” Ragehoof asked as they walked down the steps of the Royal Guard tower. “Why me? Yeah, I’m tough, but I’m no magician. You can wave that stick on your head and beat me easily… What’s the catch?”

“You are familiar with the Zentnor Collective, are you not?” Celestia asked grimly, ignoring his rudeness.

“Yeah, I am,” Ragehoof replied, firing an angry glance at several guards as they exited the stairwell and walked through the building. “There were twelve of them, and they almost single-hoofedly took over Equestria.”

“They are entirely immune to magic,” Celestia told him. “That is why they were so dangerous—they were imprisoned in Tartarus, and are now free. Our defense force is going to need ponies of physical strength and martial skill, like yourself.”

“Bah, as if you’ll find any as strong as me,” Ragehoof scoffed. “You and I both know I’m a dying breed.”

“In fact, there are some as strong as you,” Celestia replied, turning down a hallway. They were not heading towards the exit of the guard building, but instead a large office room in the back.

Celestia opened the door with a flash of golden magic, and the guard inside immediately hopped from his desk, standing at attention and saluting her.

“Princess Celestia!” he barked. “Sergeant Ironmane reporting!”

Ragehoof snickered mockingly at his bravado.

“At ease, sergeant,” Celestia responded—he lowered his hoof from his forehead but remained in a firm stance. “I have need of you to defend Equestria with me.”

“W-with you, your highness?” Ironmane asked, unsure. He was a very large earth pony, thick and tall, grey pelted with a dark cyan mane. Beneath his golden armor was a partially visible cutie mark depicting a crossbow.

Celestia used her magic to close the door behind her and Ragehoof. “Indeed,” she replied quietly. “The gates of Tartarus have been destroyed, and I am assembling an elite team to face its powerful inmates head-on. You will be among them if you so choose; your prowess in combat is second to none among the Royal Guard.”

“Understood, your highness,” Ironmane replied diligently. “When do we move out?”

“Meet me in the Royal Hall tomorrow at dawn,” Celestia ordered. “I will brief the team, and we will depart shortly afterwards.”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” Ironmane barked, saluting her again.

“This is not an order, sergeant,” Celestia clarified; Ironmane looked at her curiously. “More will be explained tomorrow morning, but remember, your participation will not be mandatory.”

“…Ma’am?”

“I am not asking you to do this as a member of my Royal Guard,” Celestia continued. “I ask you only as a citizen of Equestria. It will be optional, and you have the right to refuse if you so choose.”

“With all due respect, your highness, I’ll not be using that right,” Ironmane replied firmly. “Is there anything else I can do in the meantime, ma’am?”

“Thank you, but no,” Celestia smiled, ignoring Ragehoof’s continued snickering. “This goes without saying, but please keep this between us. I will inform the public in a statement this afternoon. Until we meet tomorrow, you may take the rest of the day off. Prepare yourself in whatever ways you see fit.”

“Understood, your highness!” the sergeant barked. “Thank you for the opportunity, ma’am. You’ll not be disappointed.”

Celestia nodded her head at him politely, opening the door and turning around, motioning for Ragehoof to follow. He obliged, shooting a condescending glare at Ironmane before exiting. The sergeant scowled back as Celestia closed the door between them.

“That goes for you, too,” Celestia told Ragehoof sternly as they walked down the hall towards the stairwell. “Once we exit this building, you are pardoned. However, if you plan on defending Equestria, meet me in the Royal Hall at dawn. Until then, speak of this to nopony.”

“Yeah, sure,” Ragehoof replied. “Not like I talk much anyway. I hope you’re getting more than just that wheat-hoof guard back there. Who else are you planning on bringing?”

“Rest assured, I am assembling the most qualified in Equestria,” Celestia responded dismissively, descending the stairs and entering the large hall on the ground floor. They were almost to the exit.

“Huh, qualified,” Ragehoof scoffed darkly. “For Equestria’s sake, I hope you’re right about that.”

“As do I,” Celestia admitted quietly, opening the front doors with her magic. Sunlight flooded in, illuminating Ragehoof’s dark red body. He and the two guards outside exchanged angry looks.

“Do not get put back into jail tonight,” the princess demanded, spreading her wings.

“As if anypony but you could put me in jail anyway,” Ragehoof retorted. He cantered out onto the street, disappearing into the crowd of Canterlot residents.

“Misguided, condescending…” Celestia thought, staring into the crowd where he had disappeared. “Still, he is everything but incorrect… Pacifism and harmony come at a high price.”

She took flight a few moments later, dematerializing in a CRACK of golden light.

---

**********

High in the sky, several miles northeast of Cloudsdale, a bright yellow pegasus with a fiery orange mane was relaxing on a cirrus cloud. She was at such a high altitude that only the most adept pegasi flyers could manage to stay adrift in such thin air.

“Great day, isn’t it?” Spitfire commented, stretching her legs into the sky above her.

“Mmm, you bet,” Soarin’ replied from a cloud adjacent to her. The deep-blue maned pegasus stretched as well and took a deep breath. This particular section of cirrus clouds was a favorite hangout spot for the Wonderbolts, a team of the fastest and most gifted flyers in all of Equestria.

Spitfire closed her eyes and absorbed the sunshine, almost falling asleep.

The Wonderbolts rarely had days off, and even more rarely were they left alone. Millions of ponies were fans of the stunt-flying team, and it was hard to escape them anywhere. Spitfire was the team’s captain, and Soarin’ was her closest friend on the team.

A low rumbling sound suddenly broke their peaceful silence. Soarin’ opened his eyes, gazing sheepishly at his stomach. “Got any of those fritters left?” he laughed, lazily taking flight and heading to a cloud near Spitfire’s right. On its surface was a white pantry, blending in almost seamlessly with the cloud.

“If anyone’s eaten them, it was probably you, dude,” Spitfire replied, turning over and watching him open it up. She rested her head on her forearms and giggled while he rummaged through the pantry.

“Drat,” Soarin’ remarked, finding no leftover apple fritters. “At least there’s some carrots…”

“Too bad, chief,” Spitfire grinned at him mischievously. “They were pretty good.”

“You… ate them all?!” Soarin’ gaped dramatically, bits of carrots flying out of his mouth as he spoke. His heart dropped when his teammate nodded.

“What’cha gonna do ‘bout it?” Spitfire asked threateningly, narrowing her eyes.

“Maybe I’ll…” Soarin’ started quietly, glaring at her intensely. “…Feed you your WINGS!”

**********

Soarin’ suddenly charged directly at Spitfire, threatening to slam his hooves into her face. Grinning, she dropped through the cloud she lay upon and quickly ascended behind him, clipping the edges of his wings.

“Tough words!” Spitfire called out boldly, banking around at a wide angle as he started chasing her. “Think ya can back’em up!?”

Soarin’ didn’t reply, but instead narrowed his wings and increased his speed, catching up with her and seizing her tail. He pulled her backwards and started throwing punches at her from above, but she spun around and blocked every single one before counterattacking him.

Spinning in every direction in a free-fall, the two pegasi continued their heated hoof-fight for nearly a minute before Spitfire backed away, increased her altitude, and tried to buck him in midair.

“Nuh-uh!” Soarin’ replied quickly, jerking his head out of the way and seizing one of her hind legs before she could retract them. He flew downwards, rapidly building momentum and launching her into several thick clouds, which she smacked against with a thud.

Spitfire kicked back off of them, ascending towards Soarin’ in a head-on charge. She stalled her wings before reaching him, halting her advance and juking to the right. She ascended at an angle and stalled once again, freefalling through the air above him and hailing punches downwards.

Soarin’ blocked the punches and used the impact from one of them to rotate his entire body around, flying backwards into Spitfire’s chest with his hind legs. She managed to dodge the kick, grab his legs, and use his own momentum to spin him around and throw him into the same thick cloud below.

“One for one!” Spitfire called out triumphantly. “Next throw-down wins!”

“Oh, you’re goin’ down, boss!” Soarin’ replied intensely, jumping back into the fray and unleashing another barrage of punches at her. Each of them made several attempts to kick each other, but all of them resulted in dodges.

Their heated aerial dogfight continued at a stalemate for nearly ten minutes straight, until they broke away from each other, breathing heavily due to the thin air and hovering in place.

“Givin’ up, chief?” Spitfire grinned facetiously. “That’s too bad. Those fritters were so delicious…”

“Raagh!” Soarin’ raged, charging several meters before stalling to a halt and zipping to the side. He repeated this maneuver several times, appearing as though he would charge Spitfire from several different angles before pausing and switching to another.

Spitfire’s eyes followed Soarin’s blurred figure carefully as he got closer and closer. Deciding not to allow him to reach her, she charged at him, plowing her hooves into his chest and intercepting his next juking movement.

Catching him off-guard, she pushed him downwards, shoving him into the cloud below and knocking the wind out of him with a pained oof.

“Agh-puh!” Soarin’ muttered, spitting a thick wad of cloud out of his mouth and looking upwards in annoyance. Spitfire was sitting on his chest, triumphantly gazing down at him.

“…But you knocked us BOTH into the cloud!” Soarin' complained, his cheeks reddening in anger as his captain laughed at him. “Th-that means it’s a draw!”

“Nuh-uh, chief,” Spitfire giggled, leaning down on him and resting her elbow on his chest. “I didn’t touch it!”

Her laughter was interrupted by Soarin’ suddenly jamming a wad of cloud into her mouth. “Hah!” he laughed triumphantly. “Now it’s a draw!” Spitfire spat the cloud into her hoof and brushed it against his nose, tickling it and causing him to sneeze violently. “Clever… little… f-achoo!”

“Clever little what?” Spitfire giggled. “Can’t hear ya… You’ve got a little somethin’ on your face, there.”

Soarin’ batted her hoof away from his nose and tackled her, pinning her against the cloud and tickling her furiously in revenge.

“W-wait, heh, st-AH! Sto-“ Spitfire sputtered. “STOP! Wa-AH! Pr-AH… Agh!”

“Heh, what was that, boss?” Soarin’ asked. “Can’t hear you over how awesome I am.”

“PRINCESS-AH! CELEST-AH!” she screamed. “BEHIND Y-AH!”

“Oh, yeah, I’m gonna fall for that one,” he laughed, rolling his eyes. Hearing a snicker from behind him, Soarin’s eyes suddenly widened in mid-roll, and he stopped tickling his victim.

**********

“P-princess Celestia,” Spitfire shuddered, hurriedly pushing Soarin’ off of her chest and scrambling to stand up straight. “Th-this isn’t what it looks like, I swear…”

“Ah, yeah, uhm,” Soarin stuttered, rolling over and standing up as well. “W-what she s-said… It’s uh… S-sparring, we were, um, sparring, and uh…” He blinked in disbelief at the princess.

Celestia was standing on an adjacent cloud, a hoof covering her mouth and quietly giggling at them.

“It appears that Spitfire was victorious,” Celestia grinned, lowering her hoof. “Forgive my intrusion, friends, but I have an invitation for the two of you.”

“An… invitation, princess?” Spitfire asked curiously—Soarin’ sighed heavily in relief.

“That is correct,” Celestia replied, her smile slowly fading. “Unfortunately, I am the bearer of bad news.”

“What’s wrong?” Soarin’ asked, realizing that there was no way she had just come to book them for a show—her secretaries would have done so, under more official channels.

“The Gates of Tartarus have been destroyed, and the dark forces within are amassing to attack Equestria,” Celestia explained grimly.

“The gates of wha?” Soarin’ asked, cocking his head sideways.

“The Gates of Tartarus, dude,” Spitfire told him, her voice quivering. “You didn’t pay much attention in history class, did you? It’s where the princess put all kinds of evil things that tried to destroy Equestria...”

Celestia nodded. “In response, I’m amassing a group of elite defenders, from all over Equestria, to fight by my side and return them from whence they came.”

“Y-you want the Wonderbolts to join you, princess?” Spitfire asked. “We’re good fliers, but most of us aren’t exactly fighters…”

“Not all of the Wonderbolts, only the two of you,” Celestia explained. “Not only are you their strongest fliers, you’re also the team’s only black belts in Tae Wing Do, as you have so… aptly demonstrated.” The princess suppressed the urge to giggle again.

“Hay yeah!” Soarin’ replied enthusiastically, taking flight. “She’s right, boss! We got this!”

“I… trust your judgment, princess,” Spitfire added, slightly less excited than Soarin’. “But we’ve never actually fought anypony for real… It’s all just been sparring and stuff like that…”

“I have the utmost confidence in your abilities,” Celestia told her, taking flight. “If you are interested, please, meet me in the Royal Hall tomorrow at dawn. Tell the rest of your team that you two are on temporary leave by my approval.”

“You got it, princess!” Soarin’ cheered. “We’ll be there!”

“Thank you both,” Celestia smiled at them. “Sorry I interrupted your sparring session—have a good day!” She waved at them and began to descend into the clouds, snickering inaudibly while they waved back.

“Dude… Are you sure you want to get into this?” Spitfire asked him quietly, once Celestia had faded from view. “It sounds really dangerous, and I’m not talking stunt-dangerous…”

“Yeah, I’ll bet it is,” Soarin’ admitted confidently, landing next to her. “But she’s right… We’re probably the only pegasi in Equestria with black belts, straight from the masters in Gryphus! ...Dude, we should have told her about the brotherhood, too!”

“It’s too bad we can’t,” Spitfire reminded him sharply, lying back onto the cloud and staring into the sky.

“Heh, oh yeah… that…” Soarin’ laughed, lying several feet to her right and gazing upwards. “Ah well, I’m sure we’ll do fine.”

“But those… Dark forces Celestia mentioned…” Spitfire continued worriedly. “I remember some of them from history class…”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Like… there was this dark bird, made of shadow, that only comes out at night... the pictures of it in the book made it look like some kinda sky-demon or something… It was pretty scary…”

“I really didn’t pay attention, did I?” Soarin’ laughed. “I don’t remember any’a that stuff.”

“Celestia stunned it by making the sun rise earlier than it was supposed to, apparently it caught it off guard,” Spitfire shuddered. “It sounded like it was invincible during the night…”

“Nah, history’s always exaggerated,” Soarin’ said confidently. “Nopony’s invincible.”

“Heh, at least you’re not worried,” Spitfire remarked. “That makes one of us.”

“What’s there to be worried ‘bout?” Soarin’ asked, grinning excitedly. “We don’t even know what we’re facin’ yet. It might just be a bunch’a angry griffons or somethin’, like what happened at Cloudsdale a few years ago.”

Spitfire laughed. “Maybe you’re right, chief… guess we’ll just have to see, huh?”

“That’s more like it, boss,” Soarin’ replied. They spent the rest of their afternoon relaxing high in the clouds, miles above the rest of the world.

---

**********

“Derpy!” remarked an angry brown pegasus. “You’ve ruined another pint of liquid rainbow! This stuff’s expensive, you featherbrain!”

The grey, blond-maned pegasus he was addressing put a hoof to her chin, clueless. The two hard-hatted, lab-coated pegasi stood in a rainbow lab at Cloudsdale University, part of the sprawling sky-city of Cloudsdale. Between them, a bucket of multicolored liquid sat on the cloudy floor.

“It looks like rainbow-juice to me!” Derpy replied cheerfully, shrugging at him.

“Ah-huh,” the shaggy-maned pegasus said sarcastically, dipping his hoof into the bucket. “This looks like a rainbow to you?” He held his hoof up to Derpy’s face, rainbow liquid dripping from its tip.

“Roses, fire, sunshine, grass, water, and muffin!” Derpy exclaimed, pointing at each color on his hooves as she called out its name. The last of which, muffin, was an off-brown.

“That’s not muffin, that’s my hoof,” the brown pegasus sighed, clearly unable to make sense of her. “You didn’t get the last chroma into the mix, it’s supposed to be purp-“

“Your hoof is made of muffin?!” Derpy cut in, her eyes shining as they straightened out and stared at his hoof.

“Uh, n-“

Before he could complete his protest, Derpy had seized his hoof and begun to nibble on it.

In his attempts to remove the strange mare from his hoof, the brown pegasus didn’t notice a white alicorn landing on the classroom floor behind them.

“Ahem,” Princess Celestia said mildly, grinning at the pair.

“Princess?” Derpy asked, letting go of her victim and hopping to her feet. “Princess, it’s you!”

“I’m happy to see you too, Derpy Hooves,” Celestia replied warmly. Derpy responded by darting over to her and wrapping herself around her front left leg. The princess did not seem surprised by the sudden embrace—she responded by affectionately ruffling Derpy’s mane with her opposite hoof.

Celestia turned to look at the dumbstruck brown pegasus, who tilted his hard-hat upwards to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“Hoops, it’s good to see you as well,” Celestia said, hovering forward while Derpy still clung to her leg.

“P-princess Celestia?” Hoops stuttered, bowing at her in shock. “W-wha… What’s up?”

“I’d like to speak to professor Aeon, however, he was not in his office,” Celestia explained as Derpy finally let go of her leg. “Has he changed his office hours?”

“Ah, yeah, he’s um… Givin’ a lecture over at Cumulus Hall, I think,” replied Hoops, wiping his hoof on the cloud beneath him. “S-sorry ‘bout that, princess, the schedule was wrong a few times this week ‘cause we had a… mail issue.” His eyes glared through his messy dark-brown mane at Derpy, who seemed oblivious.

“Well, thank you for your time,” Celestia smiled at him. She leaned down and kissed Derpy on the forehead, causing the grey pegasus squeal with delight.

“By the way,” Celestia whispered to Hoops, spreading her wings. “Offer her muffins when she starts to lose interest. She’ll snap back like a yo-yo!”

Hoops gulped at Celestia and looked back at his walleyed student, nodding. The princess took flight.

“I just talked to Princess CELESTIA,” Hoops thought. “The dudes are NEVER gonna believe this!”

“Hey, um, can’t I just keep working at the post office?” Derpy asked innocently. “I promise I won’t mess up the mail again!”

“Ugh, it’s not up to me, dude,” Hoops sighed. “Stupid internship... Look, if you keep paying attention, we’ll make some muffins afterwards…”

“Rainbows and muffins?!” Derpy gasped. “Best. Class. Ever!”

Hoops buried his face into his hoof and groaned.

---

Celestia flew across the campus of Cloudsdale University, eventually reaching a stadium-shaped cloud where dozens of pegasi sat, listening to the teaching of a white pegasus stallion in the center of the hall. A small magical device on the lapel of his neck tie seemed to make his voice boom as he addressed the students around him.

He was giving a lecture on the physics of a cloud-to-cloud bolt of lightning, and why they were important in maintaining the nitrogen cycle.

The princess waited patiently until the lecture was over. When it was, the students began to flood out of the hall, into the air and in every direction. Many of them gasped in awe as they flew past her, but none of them addressed her directly.

“Princess Celestia!” Professor Aeon shouted delightfully, taking flight from his podium and hovering towards the princess. He had a short and ruffled brown mane, and his neck tie was striped red and yellow. His cutie mark was a book with a bolt of lightning through the pages.

He spoke quickly, but clearly. “What in Equestria brings you to my lectures today, your highness? Interested in learning how to make lightning with only three tenths of a storm cloud and no magic at all? My studies have shown that-“

“Professor Aeon, it’s been a while,” Celestia cut in, smiling. “We have plenty of time to talk shop later. For now, there is a matter of grave importance we must discuss, away from the ears of the students.”

**********

Aeon’s warm smile drooped slightly. His bright purple eyes bore an increasingly serious expression as he noticed that the princess’s smile was forced, and something was bothering her.

“To my office, then, shall we?” Aeon asked, regaining his smile for the sake of appearances.

“To your office,” Celestia replied as they took flight together, heading towards Nimbus Tower. It was a tall, five-story cylindrical cloud with many hallways jutting out into open air.

They ascended to the top level, just below the roof of the cloud, and entered the hallway. He led her into an office-like room, with a cloud-crafted desk, bookshelf, and several chairs. Celestia used her magic to manipulate the cloud behind her, covering the entrance to the room.

Professor Aeon sat at his cloudy desk, and Celestia sat across from him.

“You need not tell me we’re all in great danger,” Aeon started, resting his elbows on his desk and supporting his chin with his hooves. “I can tell just by looking at your face. What’s happened, princess, and what can I do to help?”

“Your intuition never ceases to amaze me, professor,” Celestia responded, her cheeks slightly reddened. “Unfortunately, you are correct, something terrible has happened. It is the Gates of Tartarus; they have been completely destroyed…”

“The Nighthawk, the Zentnor Collective, that crazy necromancer--can’t remember his name…” Aeon muttered to himself. “This is bad, very bad…”

“I’m afraid it gets even worse,” Celestia continued grimly. “Few are privy to this knowledge, but the Tartarus prison dates back to long before I was in power. Even as Discord ruled the land with chaos, he somehow saw fit to imprison some of the more… horrid… abominations within the mountain prison.”

“Something that evil…” Aeon pondered. “Princess, what measures are being taken? Should I begin a pegasus militia? I can have the first batch trained within a week, possibly a battalion within a month…”

“I’m afraid the dangers now posed to Equestria are far beyond what any normal pony, pegasus, or unicorn has the strength to face,” Celestia told him. The truth of Ragehoof’s ramblings echoed through her mind. “If we bring the regular populous into this conflict, it will be an utter bloodbath…”

“…It really is that bad, is it then?” Aeon asked, looking out his window at the late morning sun. “Can nothing be done?”

“There may be a chance to contain it,” continued the princess, her voice sounding hopeful yet unsure. “I am assembling a team of Equestria’s most talented and gifted ponies, and you are among them. I can think of nopony more qualified to organize our aerial combat team… your skill in resolving the Griffon conflict is evidence of that.”

“Erm, that…”

“…was nothing compared to what we will face, I know,” Celestia finished for him. “There was no bloodshed, thanks to you... But still, it was actual combat, which is far more than just about anypony in Equestria has experienced. Plus, your knowledge in general will be invaluable to our group.”

“If you insist,” Aeon replied humbly. “Very well, princess, I’m at your disposal. What would you have me do?”

“Meet me tomorrow at dawn, in the Royal Hall,” she explained. “Also, the two Wonderbolts we’ve discussed before have been summoned.”

“Spitfire and Soarin’,” Aeon recalled, a smile spreading across his face. “Such amazing fliers, and black belts no less! They’re to join us too?”

Celestia nodded. “I’d ask you to teach them all that you know, but that would take far too long…”

“Hah!” Aeon scoffed, standing from his desk. “You flatter me, princess. I’ve theorized dozens of maneuvers that they alone would be qualified to perform. I’ll get them on paper before tomorrow. What other fliers will be with us?”

“The Elements of Harmony have already pledged their assistance,” the princess replied. “Myself, Luna, and Cadance will be supporting the team as well, and there are a few others who may yet join.”

“Ah, Rainbow Dash,” Aeon said excitedly, pacing behind his desk. “I’ve always wanted an opportunity to work with her. Such an inspiring pegasus! Why hasn’t she applied to CU yet? The sonic rainboom she performed at the Royal Wedding was practically effortless!”

“I trust that you will make good use of her abilities?”

“Good use?!” Aeon laughed confidently. “With her on point, we’ll be unstoppable. Oh, um, the other pegasus among the Elements… I recall her vaguely…”

“Fluttershy,” Celestia confirmed. “She dropped out of flight school, so you’ll have to go easy on her.”

“Ah yes, Element of Kindness… Special talent?”

“Animal care,” Celestia smiled. Aeon looked at her curiously, raising an eyebrow. “…But the Element allows her to heal grievous wounds effortlessly. Likewise, Rainbow’s Element strengthens her physically.”

“A healer and a point-mare!” Aeon gushed. “I’ll formulate a lesson plan to teach them as much as possible, and make it teachable as we travel!”

“I’ll let you get to it, then,” Celestia sighed, her voice sounding more hopeful than it had all day.

“Already on it,” the professor said, pulling several bound scrolls from the shelves and unrolling them onto his desk. “I’ll see you tomorrow at dawn, princess!”

The relieved alicorn nodded at him once more and opened the cloud exit, heading down the hall and taking flight into the sky.

“It is nearly noon…” Celestia thought worriedly, gazing into the sun and absorbing power from it. Building up a thick reservoir of energy, she dematerialized with a golden CRACK.

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